Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council (25 011 213)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to follow the correct guidance when it provided housing advice to Mr X’s tenant. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council failed to follow the correct guidance when it gave his tenant housing advice and did not attempt to contact him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained the Council did not follow the relevant guidance when it gave his tenant housing advice and failed to contact him. He said he incurred unnecessary costs due to this.
- The Council did not uphold his complaint. The Council told Mr X it gave the tenant the correct advice and did not need to contact him.
- Mr X remains unhappy with the situation and wants the Council to reimburse him. There is no evidence the Council advised the tenant incorrectly. Even if this were the case it would be the tenant’s personal injustice and therefore up to the tenant to complain. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman